10 Strings to Pull to Manage Drive and Untie Behavioral Knots – Pt 1

10 Strings to Pull to Manage Drive and Untie Behavioral Knots – Pt 1

Yesterday’s piece was about how solving behavioral problems is kind of like untangling knots. Today I’m going to talk about the strings that make up the behaviors and how they can be used as well as what happens to other strings when you tug on them with bitework.

Bite is Removal From the Hand

Marking the moment the dog removes the target from your hand allows you to scale your bite criteria from zero to hero. This is the criteria for a Bite or Take It. This is important for managing drive and reinforcing with the energy level of the game. How your dog removes it from your hand, how you present the target, how hard you struggle, what your intent is; all of these aspects of TakeA Take is a cued Bite that replicates the placement and timing of a throw. Usually used with overs, vaults, and flips, the Take is a powerful teaching tool for creating habitual leaping and commitment to flying targets. Takes allow the handler great latitude in placing discs. Just pop it out there sharply and hold it; it’s easy to place...More It can and do have an impact on the many other strings of behavior we have going on at any given time.

If you tug like a crazy person your energy level might go up, but your Rate of ReinforcementRate of Reinforcement can be expressed in terms of Cookies Per Minute (CPM). How many cookies delivered over time has a great impact on dog training. Traditional positive training says you should shoot for 15-30 CPM for learning and heavy distractions. Rate of reinforcement should strategically be used to teach and leverage and reinforce good behavior. Tons of Cookies while...More goes down. The ReleaseRelease has many meanings in disc. Throws and throw variations can be referred to as releases. Sometimes you talk about the dog releasing something, the toy, or the environment, as in to stop pursuing it or giving it up. How tricks finish and move after the finish is the Release.... of the target can become extremely difficult for the dog. Your GiveThe Give is a retrieve to the hand. A cued Give is a foundational skill that is not super useful in the actual performance of disc dog freestyle, and has huge applications for training and skills development . A Give is distinctly different from a Drop because of the localized nature of the skill. Give only happens in the hand,...More may struggle as a result. You might wind up with mauling behavior on the target after the dog finally wins.

Allow the dog to remove the disc with less of a fight and in a more boring, mechanical fashion -no tugging – loosens up the string and can make the knot go away. This simple little shift makes the mauling behavior or reluctance to Drop totally counter productive, from the dog’s perspective. It changes the game. The energy level and intensity of play will drop. The Drop will be freed up. A Give will be far more likely to happen. You will have a much higher Rate of Reinforcement without the tuggingBitework is an activity or a game that consists of biting and dropping a toy on cue. Cued Bites and cued Drops (and Gives) can be used to teach and reinforce many behaviors. Bitework is the framework to use to create a high rate of reinforcement and the repetition necessary to teach and hone skills. There are 3 rules in...More and will reduce the intensity of the game.

Tightening and loosening this string makes for elemental changes in the game. Something so simple can change everything.

Drop

We like to make the cued Drop into a secondary reinforcer by pairing it with opportunity: the opportunity to Bite and the opportunity for NextNext is an important feature in a fast paced game. Everything hinges upon Next. If you like the game, then Next is important to you. When a dog loves to play disc Next, the next trick, opportunity, or movement, is a great motivator. Next can be a Cookie. Next can be offered consequently, as positive reinforcement for good behavior, and...More. Drop is a lynchpin behavior for sure. But it doesn’t start that way.

A cued Drop is like a well tied knot. It’s a bunch of well organized strings. Sometimes you fall right into it, but if your cued Drop isn’t happening then you have to untie that knot. While untying the knot, other strings will be affected and can be leveraged.

Marking Attention and offering a Bite as a cookie for that skill often will facilitate the Drop. This will also most likely reduce the Rate of Reinforcement and the energy level of the game. Working the Drop using AttentionUnsolicited eye contact or Attention is a great way to hook up with a dog. If you have something the dog wants he should give eye contact in order to get access to it. This quickly becomes akin to asking permission for things that the dog wants. If your dog offers Attention when they see something they want, most dog...More can be used to manage drive and the energy level of the game.

Reducing the intensity of your resistance on your Take It, and focus on that removal from the hand can make the Drop much more likely to happen while heavy tugging can reinforce a carry. A RegrabA Regrab of the disc while your dog is carrying it gives him or her a reason to carry the disc and bring it close to you. Often employed in Bitework, the Regrab has many applications in disc dog freestyle. It can be used to create a retrieve. It can be used to build Drive. It can be used to...More can be used to manufacture that removal from the hand criteria, and can help a dog hold or carry an object for it to be dropped later, and how you regrab, aggressively tugging like a crazy person or a quick tug and release influences the other strings as well.

Freeshaping the Drop can have a major impact on the Rate of Reinforcement and Energy Levels of the game making it likelier for the dog to check out or become distracted.

Attention Is Key

Pulling on the Attention string during bitework has a tremendous effect on the game and how it is played. It loosens up the energy level string, bringing the game to a slower or more controlled pace, can either increase or decrease the Rate of Reinforcement, and can be used to reinforce Releasing the target. Attention is a key component of managing and maintaining drive.

Use Attention to punctuate your game. Place pauses wherever you want them with Attention. Build drama – tighten up all the strings and let your dog spring into action.

Too many, poorly timed or ill-conceived tugs on the Attention string can bring the game to a grinding, grating halt, as well – knots that are boring are hard to untie.

Energy Level

General energy level of the game is a major knot solving tool that is not often appreciated and often abused. It is also a great creator of knots. Lots of times the handler tries to play up to the dog’s speed because the dog is too aggressive or too fast. Good luck there… the answer to a dog that moves too fast is to set good criteria and move and act slow. Be deliberate, give the dog achievable criteria and reinforce on your pace. Inserting Attention and a pregnant pause after a cued Drop works wonders for slowing dogs down.

Energy level really comes into effect when untying behavioral knots with dogs that are a bit lower on the drive scale or are having problems getting engaged in or understanding the game. Boring play is going to be a problem for some dogs. A Regrab or a cued Drop can really spice things up by bumping up the rate of reinforcement and keeping the train of success rolling. Verbal and physical action can help keep the energy flowing as well.

Pulling on any of the strings of behavior in the bitework game can and will influence the energy level of the game.

Regrab

Grabbing and tugging the disc while the dog is carrying is a Regrab. It’s a beautiful string that many people are just scared to even touch, let alone tug on, lest it create an uncontrollable tugging monster. It doesn’t really work like that.

It’s a great tool for increasing the energy level of the game and for creating value in the area on and around the handler. Have a dog that runs off with the toy? Or sits in front of you and chews on it? A few Regrabs and your dog will be pushing it on you and into your hand, and he can’t be chewing on it if you’re tugging on it with him, right?

Regrabbing the disc really tightens up the Drop string too. If your knot is a failure to carry, the Regrab is the string you want to pull in bitework. A few Regrabs and your dog has a reason to carry.

Building value to the handler with a Regrab on the target also helps us to avoid distractions and maintain focus, promoting reorientation, and the Release of the environment.